A continental ice sheet is a vast expanse of ice which completely covers all underlying terrain. They form on land and spread outward in all directions.

These ice sheets, such as cover Greenland (NASA photo above) and Antarctica, are the most significant of all the glacial forms because their huge size plays a major role in forming and maintaining the Earth's climate.

If the Arctic ice cap (of which the Greenland ice sheet is a major part) was to melt and disintegrate, the consequences would be catastrophic. Think of the ice as a giant white reflector - with no ice to reflect sunlight and heat in the summer, the entire radiation balance of the Earth would change.

This would lead to changes in heating patterns... which would change ocean currents in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans... which would then alter the ocean circulation systems that transfer heat and minerals around the planet.

The end result would be dramatic global climate change and unpredictable disruptions to the oceans food chain.

Here's a thought... maybe we shouldn't let this happen.